Kansas City Shuffle
by Hioh
Summary: Once there was a maiden- "survival is fury" she said; Learn well Taylor Hebert, for the end approaches and you have been chosen to stand [Exalted/Worm]
1. 1: Destiny

Disclaimer:Worm is Wildbow's , Exalted is White Wolf's. This is a non-profit work and is not to be distributed as such

1.1

I knew that life never was kind to people like me; the victims stayed victims unless they changed something. But, I thought when I am slammed into the back of a locker hard enough for my vision to fade into a haze of pain for a moment, It had been nice to not be constantly on guard and able to walk the halls of the school without fear of attack.

In my state of pain-filled shock I barely reacted to the ominous sound of the door crashing closed behind me. As I regained focus, the true extent of my situation hit me; I was locked in the dark confined space of a locker filled with used tampons and pads that by the smell that engulfed me had been there for a while. My eyes began to tear up from the betrayal and the smell, and I lost control over my rising stomach. The days lunch working it's way up my throat and joining the mess below. The addition of my stomach's content did nothing to improve the atmosphere and, to make thing worse, I felt my legs give out beneath me.

I sat there, my entire lower body covered in filth, and cried. I cried from the horror of the situation, from the loss of whatever hope I had held for a normal school life, but mostly I cried because of betrayal. I knew, knew that it was too good to be true. All my interest in war and long studies of battles had told me that deception was a core aspect of it. But whatever logic I had used had been overpowered by my need for it to be true, and now I cried with deep heaving sobs.

Time passed, the dark and unchanging nature of the lockers inside prevented me from knowing when in the day "now" is. Until finally, emotionally exhausted, I fell asleep.

When I woke, I was much more coherent. The jagged edge of pain in my heart had faded to a dull throb and my nose had, somehow, gotten used to the smell. As I checked my pockets for a phone I knew was not there, I noted that yesterday was Friday which meant that the entire school was empty and would be so for two days. Even my only cursory knowledge of how a human worked told me I would probably be dead from thirst before anyone could rescue me, and I was probably in shock with how little that seemed to scare me at the moment.

With slightly hysterical calm, I chose between breaking down into a sobbing wreck at the realization or thinking about my situation.

I would like to think that I chose the more constructive choice and spent the next few hours screaming my voice sore and beating the metal walls trapping me with tears trailing down my face.

I only stopped when rivulets of blood began running down my arms and the pain from my now damaged hand hit me full force.

The thirst soon overpowered the hunger, with images of cool water dancing in my head overpowering all other thoughts. It took an enormous effort of will to force my mind off the non-existent water and my trapped state. With nothing else to do, I thought and planned.

I thought of Dad and how my death would hurt him.

I planned horrible things I could/would do to Emma, Sophia, and Madison if I got free.

I thought of what my future could have held.

I thought of becoming a hero and bringing justice to my tormentors.

I felt the strength leaving my limbs as thirst takes it toll on my body, ravaging it for resources. Time stretched and contracted and as the day ended all I was were increasingly fragmented thoughts dancing and bouncing in my head. "I" no longer existed, only a conglomeration of thoughts and hallucinations bound to a slowly dying body of flesh remaining of the individual formerly known as Taylor.

Spiders crawled from my mouth and tap-danced on Taylor's face.

Taylor's ears held a discussion of ethics, ending when the right one killed itself after espousing Nihilism.

A tiny Cape version of Taylor flew around her face and screamed about justice.

As suddenly as I entered the state of madness, I left it. Clarity bringing a sudden jerking end of my disassociation. The first thing I noticed was that the Thirst and hunger were gone. Not reduced, but completely gone. The second was that my nascent dreams of becoming a hero had become a burning desire.

The third was that my Heart was no longer beating.

I had never noticed the noise before my heart disappeared and my breathing stopped. But without those slight but constant noises, the quiet was deafening. I could hear the insects moving around my feet, and the slight sound of fabric moving against fabric when I moved. Panic threatened to rise, quashed only by the thought that something had changed. Something that might allow me to escape this alive.

I had triggered. It was the only possible explanation for going from dying of thirst to being perfectly healthy and with no vital functions in an instant that did not involve dying. And I really did not feel dead. In fact, I felt more alive than I have ever felt before and I could sense energy pooling inside me and in the air around me.

There was no handy instruction book, so I choose to use the ancient and venerable art of trying shit until it worked. I decided that strength was a logical place to start, and shifted in place to get a better stance to try punching my way out. Half-remembered lessons on of to fight drifted through my mind, and with a silent grunt of effort I threw a perfectly formed punch into the metal imprisoning me.

It crumpled and exploded outward into the hall, a metallic crash marking when it hits the ground. For a second I was dumbfounded, I actually had super powers! I jumped out of the locker and almost moaned at the lack of the ever present smell; Freedom smelled so sweet. I walked out into the school with my head held high, whatever tortures I had been subjected to in the past were nothing to the realization that I was now something more than an ordinary schoolgirl.

A window was my way out of the school building itself, a broken latch I saw in class letting me jump out from the second story. I landed perfectly, with a small roll to disperse the force, and immediately began the journey home. The sky is pink with the light of dawn, and I can see the sun beginning to rise and as I walked to my house, I wondered how I was going to explain this to dad.

When I reached home I quietly unlocked the door and stepped inside, shutting it behind me. Right in front of the entrance I saw Danny. Sitting slouched over a chair with a phone in one hand, he looked haggard. I wondered if he has been sitting there the entire weekend, waiting for me to get home. I felt tears gather in my eyes again, and angrily wiped them away with one hand. Moving forward I engulfed his sleeping form with a hug, and I smiled through the tears that now flowed freely down my face at his unconscious expression of distaste at the miasma that surrounded me.

I left him to his rest and almost ran the last few meters to the shower, scattering clothes behind me. I actually moaned when the hot water hit me, washing away the filth that had been encrusted on my legs. For an hour I stayed under the water, allowing it to clean away the trials of the last few days. I left the shower almost glowing red, skin raw from repeated scrubbing. I gathered the discarded clothes before going to my room, carefully avoiding the worst stained parts as I gripped them between two fingers in disgust. I entered my room and immediately threw them in a corner; I would destroy them later. I fell face first into the bed and luxuriate in the soft embrace, burrowing into the sheets for comfort.

I was too hyped on emotion to sleep however, happiness at my new status as a super-powered person marred by the circumstances involved. My thoughts circled the subject of the future, and in the center of it all was my new dream and hope for the future.

Everyone wanted to be a cape; when you grew up hearing about their exploits and cool powers it was only natural. But very few actually ever managed to do so; I was no different. As a child I had played heroes and villains with Emma like all the other kids, but it had never featured strongly in my life and died along with so much else when I entered High school. However, now I felt it burning in my (non-existent) heart like a phoenix born again from the ashes.

My name is Taylor Hebert And I am going to be a Hero!

1.2

I woke to the constricting embrace and muttered prayers of thanks of dad. As soon as I opened my eyes he began frantically asking questions about my health, where I had been, and if I was okay. It scared me. I had not realized just how badly he had taken my disappearance, and once more couldn't stop my tears from staining my face with liquid. Faced with my tears, he broke of his questions and just hugged me tighter; desperately clinging to my shaking form as if I was going to disappear. We sat like that for the greater part of an hour, taking comfort in the closeness. When we finally begin discussing exactly what happened it was at the kitchen table, each with a steaming cup of tea to calm our nerves.

" Where have you been?" The question was laced with a definite note of fear, and I imagined that countless horrible scenarios where rushing through his mind.

I could have told him the truth, spilled the horrors of my last few days. But something stopped me. I felt it deep inside me, an unnamed want to solve my own problems. To fight this battle alone and unaided, and for the victory to belong to me alone. It was an intoxicating thought, and so I lied.

"I am sorry for worrying you Dad. But it was nothing, I was just invited to a sleepover by some friends and forgot to call." The lie is just on the edge of unbelievable, dad knew I had few friends; but he also knew that in the last few months my social life seemed to have gotten better. In the end, I believed that his trust for me was the deciding point and he dropped the matter with a rueful laugh and a sigh.

"I really need to get you a cellphone, we can afford a cheap one and I don't want something like this to happen again. And please remember to call next time! Promise me!"

I buried the guilt of my deception with the firm silent and vocal promise to contact him if I for some reason won't make it home. It took a week for me to work up the nerve to attempt my first act of heroism. During that time, I familiarized myself with the key capes of the Brockton Bay area focusing mainly on the villains and what i could expect if I fought them. I would have tried exploring my new found powers, but dad's almost constant overwatch and insistence for me to come home immediately after school stopped me from getting almost any testing done. I did however, very quickly, learn that while I no longer needed to breathe, eat, or drink I still could. My senses were also much better, with my glasses no longer needed for anything more than keeping up the facade that nothing had changed, and all the others sharpened to borderline superhuman levels.

It was distracting, the inane chatter of school life felt like needles carving through my skull on bad days, and the roaring of a highway on good ones. The smells I had never noticed before came to the forefront, with perfumes and colognes chemical scent becoming a common companion wherever I went. The only positive was that Sophia and her cronies seemed to have quieted down for now. Perhaps unnerved by my lack of reaction to their attempted murder.

The night I chose to begin my career as a hero was the Friday one week after I had been locked in the locker. Dad had lessened his constant watch, and after assuring him that I would be fine and over at a friend's, I left home with a small bag containing my new "work" clothes held under my arm. I had been to the docks more than most people my age, and finding an abandoned building to stash my clothes was easy.

Without access to any high tech materials or personal tailors, I had been forced to rely on normal clothes to cover and disguise me as best they could. Loose black pants, and a black hoody covered most of my body. Together with a simple black scarf wrapped around my lower face to obscure most of my features and I was, in my own inexpert opinion, unlikely to be identified in the shadowy night.

I moved silently through the docks, almost gliding through the warm night with smooth movements. I guided my path through the omnipresent gang tags, following a series of markings for Empire eighty-eight deeper into their territory looking for any suspicious activity. I knew that E88 was known for having a large population of capes, but I hoped to avoid any tonight. Fighting someone without knowing your own strength and limits would be foolish and that was something I wanted to avoid.

After twenty minutes of searching I finally find my targets for the night; a small group of five skinheads, and luckily for me not the giant masses of muscles that were so popular on TV. They were rake thin and young with drawn faces illuminated by lit cigarettes, while they were obscured at the mouth of the alleyway I didn't think any of them could be much older than me.

I slip into a wary-crane stance-readiness and closed the last few meters. My voice was soft, but it broke the nights silence and could be clearly heard by the young gang members.

"Good evening gentlemen. I am here to take you off the streets, don't resist." the effect was only ruined by a tremor of fear that made it's way into my last words.

The men look incredulous for a moment before one of the men speaks, and voiced a question that was an order at the same time. "James?"

One of the other members of the group, unique in that he is wearing glasses, took a moment to look me over before replying. "She is not a known cape, probably just another wannabe."

At a gesture from the one who spoke earlier the four others moved forward, surrounding me. While they had organized, a strange calm had fallen over my thoughts. The fear was gone, replaced by an almost eager anticipation for the coming violence. I broke out of my introspective as the apparent leader speaks again.

"We get dozens of you wannabe heroes coming to our turf every week, and no matter how many we send to the hospital you idiots never seem to learn. James, Fred, Adam, Lucas. Teach this bitch to stay at home and leave the Empire to its business.

The man with glasses , James,who stood behind me to the left attacks first. Power wells from inside me, and the unexpected a hay-maker, that I instinctively know would have damaged me badly just a week ago, is clear in my mind. With a whirling motion I twist around, parrying the blow with my left arm. It stings slightly, but was as solid and unmoving as a wall in my protection. Continuing the motion, my right arm describes a perfect crescent path into his trachea, colliding with the perfect amount of force to impair his breathing and knock him out of the fight without killing him.

Less than a second after he began his swing, James is on the ground clutching his throat for air.

I felt compelled to speak, my voice level and chiding. "If you must attack from behind, use something faster so you actually utilize the moment of surprise."

Knocked out of their disbelief at my mocking advice, the remaining three men bull-rush me. I jump, skipping from head to head in blatant defiance of gravity and landing behind them.

"Do not lose yourself to anger. It stops you from thinking rationally and creates openings for your opponents to exploit."

I followed up my words with a powerful snap-kick to the right knee of the closest man, dislocating it and causing him to collapse with a scream.

"Like that"

Before the other two can do more than turn and raise their clenched fists in defense, I was upon them deceptively strong blows raining down on them and locking their movements. In seconds their defenses fall and they join their companions on the ground, one clutching a broken arm the other unconscious from a blow to the temple. Power flows again, and I attempt to dodge to the side to avoid the kick heading for my spine.

I fail, and with a grunt I feel what promises to be a magnificent bruise begin to develop on my right side. This guy knew how to fight better than his underlings; when his straight kick had missed, he had twisted it mid-motion into a side kick and caught me in the side.

Stepping into a low stance, he dashes forward and attacks with a series of punches that I effortlessly bat away with sweeping blocks, each preceded by that sense of power. After three chained attacks, I twist my parrying hand and grab hold of his arm and pull myself over him.

Well behind my opponent, I lash out with a lightning fast series of blows.

A snapping strike to his shoulders rip both arms from their sockets.

A twisting motion with my hip throws him to the ground.

A final, carefully judged, kick to his head knocks him out.

Panting slightly, I stood above the fallen bodies of five grown men and laughed slightly. A week ago I could not even face my bullies, and now i had just finished completely destroying a group of five men with moves like those from a martial arts movie. My internal victory party was interrupted by the sound of applause, a slow sarcastic clapping sound that resounded through the alley.

Looking for the source of the sound I found it at the top of the nearby building. Cloaked in darkness I could only just glimpse the dark mask covering her face in the sparse moonlight, but it was enough to identify her.

Shadow Stalker.

1.3

For half a second I froze. A real cape, one of the Wards, had seen me fight. Then I forcibly relaxed myself. We were both on the same side and if she had watched me fight then she probably knew I was not a villain. But Shadow Stalker had a reputation for not being the most sensible cape around and her vicious nature was a matter of fierce debate online. She jumped from the building, and turned into shadow to slow her descent, she touched down with no sound except for a soft tap.

This close the quality of her outfit was apparent; I felt threadbare in comparison and I was suddenly unsure of how well my makeshift costume would hide my identity. Power welled within me but before I could figure out why, the dark figure of Shadow Stalker approached.

"Hey. Nice work on these idiots." she emphasized the last word with a kick into one of the man's ribs.

"You're a newbie, I can tell from the-" she gestured to my clothes. "don't worry about it, all us non-sponsored have gone through the same thing. You have a name yet?"

When I replied, I tried to lower my voice an octave, but it just sounded as if I had trouble speaking.

"Not yet I-" something told me to keep the fact I had just triggered to myself, a nagging voice in the back of my head that told me something was not right. "-just arrived in town." I finished lamely.

We both fell silent for a moment.

"Why don't you join me on my patrol? I could show you some of the tricks of the trade." there was a not so subtle hint of aggressive challenge in her question; daring me to refuse.

I didn't of course, the chance to watch a real cape in action? This was an excellent opportunity, and one I wasted no time in accepting. I jumped and bounced between buildings, to ascend to the top of the nearby apartment complex. Shadow passed me in her incorporeal form and had been waiting when I reached the top.

"You can keep up? Good. Then follow me and I will show you where you usually can find some gang members to take down and then we can really cut loose."

We moved quickly after that, and in silence, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Below on the streets I easily saw that we were headed to even rougher neighborhoods, the buildings became more dilapidated and the people looked more desperate. We stopped on a low convenience store roof that overlooked the main avenue, she gestured for me to come closer.

"Alright, we are now pretty deep in Empire territory, so keep your eyes open for the heavy hitters. I know the location of one of their secondary meeting places and thought we could shake it up some and see what falls out. Lets keep it simple when we need to fight; you keep them occupied and I will pick off any stragglers. Get it? Got it? Good."

I wasn't sure I liked how she seemed to assume that I would follow her instructions; but she was an experienced hero and it seemed like sound advice, so I nodded my assent. We dropped to street level behind the store, and she motioned to me to remain silent.

We Approached a filth encrusted entrance set in the wall of the convenience store, she flickers into her shadow form again and steps through the metal door. For several seconds I was alone in the alley, with the background stimuli of the city as my only company. Then the door opens, and Shadow steps out. Behind her I saw what I assumed to be the unconscious bodies of two Neo-Nazis.

"Come on in"

I Dipped into my power and move into the stance from earlier, gliding into the building with unnatural grace. The room we entered was a tiny thing, I assumed it to be a backroom of the store itself. The only interesting thing about it was the narrow stairs that lead into the basement of the building.

The bottom was wreathed in darkness with no lights except a single flickering bulb in a corner. Another door barred our way but this time when she slipped into shadow form she knelt on the ground in front of it and slowly moved her head through. It looked strange, a headless body shifting in place with her neck inside a door.

She pulled her head back out and returned to normal before she spoke in a low tone. "Okay, It looks like they are having some sort of cage match in there. I spotted Stormtiger, Cricket, and around twenty low level thugs. You get in there and distract them and I provide support from through the wall. Wait until I start shooting to attack."

With utter assurance that her plan was the best one, she pulled out her crossbows from under her cloak. They became shadows, and she took a wide stance before she aimed at the wall and pulled the triggers. Bolts of darkness erupted from both, in an instant they pierced through the walls and, from the yelps of pain that came from it, hit those on the other side. As she began reloading, Shadow gestured for me to begin my attack.

Power surged and my fist hit the iron door with enough strength to rip it from its hinges, it continues into the room, its flight was broken by the bodies of several gang members. I noted the bodies already down from bolts and did a quick tally.

17 left.

I was a dervish amongst them, their numbers stopping them from organizing any true defense. A blow to the floating rib of a man cracks it and downs him in an instant. 16. An attack from the side was intercepted by a punch that breaks every bone in the offending fist in an instant, the pain caused my attacker to faint. 15. To more bolts flew through the wall, each expertly aimed to incapacitate their targets. 14. 13.

By now the mob had managed to organize slightly, and I fell into a defensive stance backed by power. I became an unassailable fortress. 12. 11. every attack against me was rebuffed , 10. 9., and then followed by powerful incapacitating strikes of their own. 8. Before we could finish the last few underlings Stormtiger, who had just managed to exit the large cage that dominated the center of the room, lost patience.

With an explosive discharge, air erupted from the back of the room. It threw both the remaining gang members and me into the wall behind us with enormous force. On unsteady legs I rose again, settling into my combat stance again.

Behind the bare torso of the man with the tiger mask I spotted the smaller form of a woman I assumed to be Cricket. In her hand she held a viciously curved short scythe that she seemed to be able to wield with some skill.

Air had compressed itself around Stormtiger's hand, and taken the form of shredding claws. I only had time to wonder where Shadow Stalker was before both of them attacked in unison. In the split second before they reached me, I noted that both were excellent fighters and seemed to know each others styles very well allowing them good teamwork.

His claws head for my chest and her blade my stomach, both moving faster than I could possibly act, both lethal if they hit.

Then they are not and did not.

To all our surprise, their attacks swipe harmlessly through the air.

During the battle a red light had been slowly but surely filling the room; and now it blazed. I looked down at my hands and saw that my every movement was followed by a crimson aura of intertwining threads of light and incomprehensible writings.

Having shook off their surprise at the miss, the duo attacked again. Cricket moved in first, and Stormtiger stood back cautiously, observing my moves. I attempted to dodge an inhumanly quick series of blows, but only succeeded partially. A dozen open wounds over both my left arm and side are the result; but with effort I manage to ignore it. Taking strength from the wounds I retaliate with a single unstoppable punch.

Cricket's Kama, that rose in a desperate block, shatters from my strike; I felt several ribs snap under my blow before the strength picks her up and throws her away from me. Her flight was interrupted by the same cage she had been fighting in earlier and I winced slightly at the loud cracking sound her impact makes. Panting slightly I retake my stance, and noted that the light had intensified again.

Luckily I was saved from having to fight Stormtiger. Apparently, having taken out Cricket in a single punch made him wary enough that he decided retreat was the wiser option for now. Pausing only to pick up his female partners still form before disappearing into the shadows in a corner where I vaguely made out another door. I made no move to stop him, and when he left the room I fell to my knees panting in exhaustion, and the light around me flickered out as well.

I looked at my hands; they were shaking, though if it was from fear or excitement I did not know. I, little unassuming Taylor Hebert, had almost single handedly taken down over a dozen men and fought off two capes. It was more than just joy that I could fulfill my dream, it was the guarantee that I could now stand up for myself.

The only thought that marred that realization was the question of where Shadow Stalker had gone. After launching her second volley, I had seen no sign of her.

Where could she have gone?

1.4

I knelt there amongst the groaning bodies of my foes for almost five minutes before I felt that I had gathered enough energy to begin moving again. Muscles ached; unused to the punishment I had been exposing them to, and even the _power_ I had been using to fuel my amazing feats felt low. I pulled myself to my feet and wondered exactly what I was going to do now. Before anything else however, I decided to secure all the gang members so they couldn't escape before the authorities came by and picked them up.

I was forced to improvise in tying them up, and several of them soon found themselves shirtless from my need for cloth bindings. Arms and legs were quickly and efficiently secured and I made sure to gag them as well, just in case. After I had made sure they all were secure, I began to search through their pockets to see if they had any interesting information. Before I managed to find anything of interest except a few hundred dollars in loose bills, Shadow Stalker dropped through the ceiling. She looked no different from before, and seemed unruffled at the sight of all of the men on the ground.

"Sorry about dropping out on you. There was another group that I was forced to deal with upstairs, and you seemed to have these schmucks under control." Her tone, like always, has a faint undertone of arrogance as if expecting me to agree with all she said. It was starting to grate on my nerves slightly.

"I called the PRT. They should get here soon, and you should be gone before they arrive."

I looked at her in surprise. "What? Why? I haven't done anything wrong, and you can just tell them I am not a villain."

She cocked her hip slightly before replying with a lecturing tone. "You don't want to be here because the PRT doesn't really like rogue heroes. They won't hunt you of course, or declare you a Villain. But don't expect any freedom until you agree to join them, especially when you're so new. So take my advice, and get out of here. We can meet up where you beat up those punks during the nights if you want."

Was what she said true? Would they try to force me to join them? I didn't know, but the chance was enough that I would do as she asked. Maybe in the future I would try to join the Wards, but now I wanted to explore this new world of mine. Of nightly escapades and battles, unbound by any organization.

So with quick goodbye and a final check on the downed Nazis, I left. I noted that there were no bodies at the top of the stairs but had no time to check if they were in the front. I had just managed to leave the building and leap onto the roof of a nearby living complex before I saw several costumed forms descend from the sky to the store. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, I left before I could identify exactly who they were.

I made my way home in silence, my head full of thoughts. Moving across the moonlit rooftops, the sweet giddiness at my victory intermingled with disappointment at not being able to meet any other capes. It was a childish emotion perhaps, but my dream was to become a hero and for all my ideas on how to measure up to the heights of those that had come before, I had not even considered if I wanted to join the wards, join some other team, or stay on my own. I was reluctant to consider joining a team. Something I had enough self introspection to know was a result of my bullying. I was afraid that even if I managed to join one of the groups that were spread across the city that it would only become high school 2.0 this time with superpowers. Perhaps it was a silly fear. But it was mine, and it was buried deep in my heart like a splinter.

I was glad to see that no lights were on in the house and that dad seemed to be asleep. I moved through the house carefully, avoiding the squeaky steps on the stair and falling into bed with a sigh after stripping of my "costume". I was exhausted, and fell asleep almost as soon as I relaxed. Dreams began to move through my sleeping mind like mist, covering all my thoughts in a blanket of silence.

_Once, there was a Maiden…_

Shadowed forms moved over my recumbent body, watching me with judging eyes. I could hear their whispers in the wind. "Why is this allowed when it can be prevented?"

_…whom many men wanted for their own._

Bones protested the exertion as a powerful blow ripped through the skull of an inhuman beast like it was rice paper. I sighed and wondered, was this all there was left in my life?

_She stepped as softly as starlight._

The golden halls of Yu-Shan held many secrets and I walked amongst them as one. They danced to my tune and sang at my command.

_She shone with glory._

The two younglings fell within moments. "Your movements are slow and predictable. Again." they moved as one and attack.

_And one by one, they came to claim her._

I watched from afar as the end of an age began and I wondered. Could I have prevented this? Should I have?

_She fled by the quickest route she found._

I watched the gods die. Their corpses became nothing but weapons of unparalleled power. I picked up the remnant of an old friend in the form of a broken sword. He had lost his battle.

_"Why do you run?" the storm clouds said._

Death came in darkness. Not the silent comfort of the night, or the howling evil of the Underworld. But the suffocating nothingness of Oblivion. I knew it was a trap, but it was a battle I needed to face.

_She said, "I cannot help who drives me."_

I woke, sat up straight, and looked down on unfamiliar hands.

1.5

I stared down at the small pale things before me, where they my hands? I moved, attempting to leave the bed. My movement, perfectly calculated for my true body, tripped me and I fell to the floor and- What? I shook my head to clear it of the last remnants of sleep, startled at the sudden pain of my body hitting the ground. For a second my mind was blank as it processed what just happened. Then panic set in.

That was no dream. I knew it with the same certainty that I knew the sky was blue and that the sun was a weapon of unimaginable power- No! I gripped my hair and pulled, the slight pain focusing my mind. Something was wrong and now my last sanctuary, the only place I knew where I could be perfectly safe, my mind was being infiltrated. The Simurgh was my first thought, but the fact I could even suspect it was enough reason to make that unlikely. I calmed myself with an effort of will, forcing my emotions back for the moment to be more objective.

The strange feeling of dissociation had faded, but the memories had not. And memories was what they were. They felt right if that was the best word to use, natural, and not something that came from an outside source. I think I sat there with my hair in my hands and unmoving for almost fifteen minutes before I reached a verdict. Even if that verdict was not one I particularly liked.

I could do nothing. If it was a Thinker of some kind messing with my head then I could do nothing unless I found out who. If it was something else? Then I barely knew where to start. But if it was something or someone else trying to influence me, why where the dreams so strange? I needed more information and, until I got it, I would need to keep suppressing my panic and fear at the thought of someone messing with my head.

I could feel a headache coming on already.

That morning I smiled when I saw the news, while it was not the headline, my nights escapade had been reported. A short piece on how a large gang gathering had been broken up by heroes and several men with outstanding warrants arrested. It only mentioned that an unknown hero had been involved in passing, but for me it was enough. The realization that I had actually done something to aid the people of my city and my dad unlocked something inside me. It was not some great rush of power or epiphany, just a tiny hint of something more, but it refreshed me and It solidified my decision to continue on this path. I caught sight of myself in the hall mirror on my way out and gasped. On my brow, lit in an ethereal red light, burned the mark of mars.

My first thought was that someone had made a mistake. Mars was traditionally the sign of males and Venus of females. The second was that it looked pretty cool. The third was that Holy fuck my head was glowing what was i going to do now? My hands flew up to cover my forehead, but did nothing to obscure the mark as it hung in the air in front of my forehead. I shouted a goodbye to to dad and rushed out of the house before he could enter the room and see my new marking.

I kept my head low as I half walked-half ran to a nearby park, avoiding roads where I knew that there would be more people at this time. Luckily, I managed to find my way without incident and even more luckily the park was empty. Obscured by a small grove of trees I collapsed into a perfect lotus position in front of a small pond. Bending over and inspecting my head in the reflection, I noticed that there was no sign of either the red mark or strange light anymore. With a sigh, I stand up and begin to stretch.

Since I had triggered and disappeared for a weekend, dad had been keeping me grounded/watched pretty much every minute he could. So today was the first time I could really try and see what I could do with them… Which in hindsight might have been good to do before rushing out into the city and fighting thugs. It had gone well but it was unlike me, and I had been starting to suspect that my power had a mental component as well.

I finished the last exercise meant to limber up my muscles, and promptly fell right back into the lotus position. After organizing my thought I made a mental list of what I knew about my powers:  
seemed centered on martial arts.  
more exotic applications seemed to use some sort of energy  
3 This energy came in both Internal and external flavors and seemed to be limited in some way.  
4. Using too much of it seemed to make me glow red and get a freaky floating mark of Mars on my forehead.  
5. It might be messing with my head and causing me to be more aggressive/ less careful.

I tried to think of more, and came up blank.

How had I survived last night? I had no real clue what I had been doing, and if my power had not been so ridiculously instinctive I would probably be in the hospital right now. I shook of that unproductive thought, stood, and walked over to a nearby tree. I resisted falling into the stance from last night, instead focusing on the core of power that now rested within me. With a kiai I struck, the tree cracking and erupting outward in a spray of sap and splinters where I struck. It did not fall, but I doubted it would survive the rest of the day.

It had ceased to be a tree in my mind, becoming both foe and obstacle as i pummeled it with punches, kicks, knees, and elbows. Each tearing more and more splinters of torn wood from its still frame. With each blow the red glow that had begun to manifest around me grew stronger and with each blow I learned more about the nature of my foe. I knew of its purpose to grow, I knew that while it bore me no malice I needed to face it in my path to continue, and I knew where to place my strikes to maximize their damage. The great trunk of the old tree began to resemble a killing field, torn beyond recognition from blows that could slay a man.

I would become a Hero, this had become a central truth inside me this last week. A child's dream made concrete by power. I would fight villains, I would rescue civilians, I would fight Endbringers, and nothing that tried to stop me would be allowed to do so for long. Power flared within me, and my fist exploded forward with unstoppable force. The tree was less pierced and more annihilated as the entire lower section was reduced to sawdust by the blow. I panted slightly as the crimson light shined around me, filling the entire park with its light.

The remains of the tree hit the ground with a crash that startled me out of the slightly amazed daze I had been in. I looked around and knew that a broken tree and red light show in the middle of the day would call unwelcome attention to it. I decided to leave before anyone showed up and suppressed my internal power and fled the scene, moving in an unpredictable circle home to throw off anyone trying to track me.

After spending some time with dad I returned to my room and pulled out pen and paper. I had been too haphazard yesterday and if nothing else a plan was always good to have. I put pen to paper and began write my future.

From the top.

1.6

When I left the house that night it was with solid idea and a plan for my near future. I would, for the first few weeks at least, avoid other parahumans if I could and focus on honing and exploring my power. After I got a handle on my power I would then proceed to take down one of Brockton Bay's many gangs. This was so that when I joined the greater cape community it would be as an independent and worthy peer. From there only the sky was the limit.

This plan lasted about five minutes before it was crushed under the iron heel of reality.

The first inkling I had that something was wrong was when I arrived at Shadow Stalker's indicated meeting point and she wasn't there. The second was a massive blast of fire that erupted into the air from deeper in the dock area like a volcanic eruption. My head snapped towards its origin, several hundred meters away, but even from where I stood the ominous glow and smoke of fire could be seen.

I really shouldn't have decided to investigate. It went against my plan and would probably end badly for me; I still began to move towards the disturbance because if Shadow Stalker was in trouble and I didn't even try to help I would regret it and, the fact that deep inside me, my still non-beating heart burned with excitement at the thought of a battle that that illuminated the sky like a-_n anima banner_ sun.

What was an anima banner? I shook of the strange thought, focusing on moving stealthily closer to the source of the chaos that now surrounded me. That was truly the right word as well; the area was a swirling hellish smoke and flame filled storm. I burst through a thick smoke cloud and onto a roof and saw the source of the flames.

It was a-_ Fire aspect Dragon-Blooded, and from the heavy mutations he seemed to have been deployed in the wyld for some time._ It was fought two people at once, flinging fire at one to keep it occupied while he engaged the other with powerful blows. For a second I was dumbstruck, It was like something out of a story. Two knights facing a dragon in battle.

Then I saw who the knights were.

Leet and Uber, two low level supervillains who themed their crimes after video games and comic books. Uber, who could learn any skill in moments, was facing the dragon man clad in shining used a large two handed sword that sparked with electricity to keep his foe at bay, but the rents and blackened scorch marks on his armor seemed to indicate that he was losing. The draconian beasts advance was halted when a coruscating beam of energy struck it, the beam had emanated from the top of a intricate staff that Leet was holding.

Leet, who could create anything but only once, was also clad in armor but a much lighter design that was mostly covered in a gray cloak and was using a tall staff that shoot energy as his weapon. Each beam of energy seemed to do little however and as I watched, two enormous skeletal wings tore their way out of the back of the dragon. Their appearance seemed to have marked a shift in the battle, as powerful blows forced Uber to defend without pause.

It was not just brute strength either, I saw that he carefully moved to keep Uber between himself and Leet's line-of-fire while continuously bombarding him with waves of fire. They would lose this. It was clear in my mind that they would not, could not win, and guessing from the aggressive nature of their attacker they would be killed. I looked around, but I couldn't see any other capes that could help. Damn it all, I did not want to watch two relatively harmless people die. I might not be able to defeat the dragon-man, but I might buy enough time for them to escape.

I jumped, and landed _In front of the rampaging Fire aspect. I had seen this before, a madness overtaking the rational mind of of the terrestrial. It passed, but until it did there was nothing to do but avoid or restrain him._

"Fall back, I will keep him occupied!"

The two mortals looked at each other in confusion. Did they not know Low realm? I repeated the command several times, each in a different tongue but they showed no a sigh, I gestured at them then pointed away indicating for them to leave. Eyes brightening they did as I commanded.

Then the Dragon-blooded moved having silently been inspecting the exchange, wary from my arrival. His attack was prefaced with a wave of fire hot enough to burn bone to ash, but I simply dipped my finger into it and pulled the core of the flame into me. Then fire washed over my still form, licking at bare flesh and clothes but doing no damage, it felt like a hot wind and not the scorching flames it was. I fell into the stance of the crane, mark of mars flickering into existence on my forehead, not wishing to kill such a powerful and therefore valuable Terrestrial.

Moments after the fire hit the draconian bulk of the rampaging man exploded into sight; If he was surprised that I could resist his flames he did not show it, not pausing or hesitating in the least. My essence pool was low and he was much stronger than me, but in the face of overwhelming skill strength was nothing. I was as the reed in the wind, swaying away from his attacks and redirecting his force against himself.

It was a refreshing battle, my low essence forcing me to rely on more unconventional tactics than I usually employed. I found that I enjoyed it, even as he tried to crack my skull with a two-handed blow, the simple dodge and parries relaxing in a way. Unfortunately, our battle was interrupted by the sudden arrival of a group of young boys and girls who announced themselves in a flurry of crossbow darts and fire blasts. One, dressed in white, moved to get closer.

Foolish.

The second he was within range my foe struck with astounding speed, and only my carefully placed punch to his elbow stopped the young man from being impaled to the scaled fist. However, the arrival of this group seemed to have begun to calm the Dragon-blooded down. His movements were less crisp, and his head moved around and seemed to be searching for an escape route.

Plans exploded inside my mind, a fractal pattern of cause and effect. A plan crystallized and was selected. He was powerful, and while I did not know who his lord was it did not matter, he would serve.

I met his gaze, his draconian eyes locking with my crimson ones for a moment. Then I faked an opening; he took it with gusto, slamming me aside and moving to escape walls of fire blocking any pursuit. I smiled beneath my face cover, then pulled my remaining power for my task. My anima flared around me as I activated my charm

and

In the sudden shock of transition from not me to me I felt two "knots" of power dissolve,I screamed as the fire that moments before had felt harmless began to burn me. My mind was splintered and raw from the whatever happened and my scrambling for power to reasert my protections could not find anything as darkness began to taint my vision. The last thing I saw before falling into unconsciousness was the flames beginning to fade, and the last thing I heard was the sound of my renewed Heartbeat inside my chest.

End Destiny

Interlude: Wards (Clockblocker)

Clockblocker was bored out of his mind when the alert came, doing nothing except idly surfing around the paranet for what felt like the hundredth time. It was required and expected for the Wards to read and memorize as many villain profiles as they could. It also became boring after the first dozen times. So when the alarm for a full mobilization came, he leapt into action with a prayer of thanks.

By the time all the wards had gathered, the situation had escalated and the entire dockside area was lit by flames. They moved quickly through the streets, following directions from an overhead helicopter. Miss Militia was leading them, her hands gripping a rifle and the visible parts of her face set in stone. They moved through crowds of fleeing civilians that nonetheless parted for them. As they closed the distance towards the centre of the disturbance, the crowd thinned quickly. The quiet conversation between the wards about what they were about to face quieted when Miss Militia spoke.

"I just got confirmation that the source of the flames is Lung."

Fear and groans was the natural reaction and Clockblocker couldn't help a whispered "Not that guy"

"Quiet." Militia's tone was sharp. "He is engaged with an unknown cape who seems to be keeping him at bay for now but that can change so don't relax. We don't know who or how this started, but that does not matter. We go in, take him down, and bring in the other cape for questioning. The fight has been going for a while so I don't recommend getting close to him. Vista, your job will be to keep him off us while we harass him. Shadow Stalker, your attacks are most likely to pierce his armor, so try taking out his legs. The rest of you, be careful if you need to approach. Now lets go!"

When the wards moved into sight of Lung and his foe, they froze. The battle was a strange thing to see; a small figure dressed in black fighting a massive draconian man, both engulfed in fire that seemed to bother neither. To their surprise, it seemed like the smaller man was winning. He was not attacking, at least not outright, but every time Lung attacked he either dodged or guided the blow with sweeping parries. Clockblocker's comment was rather disbelieving.

"Is that guy fighting _Lung_ with Kung-Fu and winning?"

Miss militia ignored him. "Stick to the plan people." She commanded while aiming her anti-materiel rifle.

"Open fire!"

As one those wards with ranged weapons open fire. Bolts, bullets, and beams flew, but most simply broke on the thick scales of Lung. The bolts enhanced by Shadow Stalker pierced though, one burying in his shoulder, but the sedative that was its main perk burned away in the intense heat. As the attacks continued to fly clockblocker began to move closer, circling the battle slightly and slowly picking his way through safe paths in the fire. Just before he got close enough to freeze the rampaging man, Lung twisted his body, much faster than something his size had any right to be, and struck with a spear-hand towards clockblockers chest.

The only thing that stopped his imminent impalement was a small arm suddenly coming from the side and striking Lung's elbow, diverting the blow. This close the small figure could be identified as female, a fact that only barely managed to penetrate Clockblocker's slightly shocked mind. He retreated before Lung could turn his attentions on him again.

After that the battle did not last long; a single mistake and Lung body checked his foe and escaped into the city, stumbling slightly for some reason before reestablishing his balance. The Wards pursuit was interrupted before it could begin by the pained scream of a girl. The black figure that had been fighting had collapsed, and whatever protections keeping her safe from the fire had as well. Vista moved the fastest, space warping so she was next to the now prone form in a single step.

Carefully picking up the still form with a small grunt of effort, she stepped back out of the fire and back to the group. Setting the smoking girl, she allowed Clockblocker access so he could freeze her until they knew what to do. As he did, he could see that Miss Militia was rapidly speaking to someone through her earpiece. Removing her hand from her ear and resettling her large revolver against her thigh, she began giving out new orders.

"Clockblocker, you and I will be escorting this new cape to HQ. You will be keeping her frozen until evac arrives, and I will keep rest of you! Armsmaster will be joining you shortly, so try keeping track of Lung until he arrives but do not engage."

As Clockblocker moved to kneel by the immobile form, Aegis was quick to take command, his voice carrying an echo of command.

"You heard her, lets go!"


	2. 2: Identity

A/N: Huge thanks to all the people who have Favorited or followed this story, please don't hesitate to leave a comment or question. Special thanks to my first, and so far only, reviewer. Don't know who you are, but you made my day. All snippets can be found on creative forums, same username. There I usally try for daily updates with chapters being posted here when usual, I don't own Worm or Exalted. But you should totally check out both, they deserve your support.

Identity - 2.1

My return to consciousness was marked by pain. My eyes opened to the sight of a simple white ceiling; where was I? The last thing I remembered was jumping down to face Lung, then... Scattered memories that both felt like mine and the drifting wisps of a half-forgotten dream. The beeping of a machine speed up as my heart did, marking the rising panic I felt with electronic noise. To my surprise, the noise calmed me. Almost everyone alive knew the sound of a heart monitor, a side effect of modern media, and the sound meant that I could be reasonably sure I was at a hospital.

Five minutes after I woke up, my theory of being in a hospital was proven false when three people entered my room. I recognized Miss Militia and Aegis of course, but the third was unknown to me. She was short, slightly pudgy, and with her bleached-blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. The unknown woman moved to the side of my bed while the heroes watched from the door.

"Taylor Hebert, I am Director Piggot of the PRT." I tensed at the mention of my name, and the heart monitor began to speed up. "You can relax, you're not in a public hospital and no one outside the PRT knows who you are. We brought you here after your altercation with lung and let you heal."

How long had I been here?

Apparently I voiced the question aloud. "You had been out for a day. You came in with a broken rib and several second degree burns, Panacea wasn't available so you will have to make due with conventional medicine."

The room was silent for a second as I absorbed the information. Then Piggot spoke again.

"You managed to fight Lung on your own and, from what the Wards saw, seemed capable of matching him. I do not know if you know this, but Lung is one of the few people capable of matching an Endbringer on a one on one basis."

My mind raced; it was a death sentence. They obviously wanted or at least expected me to fight the Endbringers, but whatever happened in my battle with Lung was not something I could consciously control. I could feel cold shivers making their way down my spine at the thought of facing those monsters. My apprehension must have shown on my face.

"You understand, yes? We need you. It might be months until the next attack, but there is no time to waste. If you joined the Wards we could get you the training and support you need."

Here Aegis broke in, voice somber. "What the director is not saying is that as a Ward you are not forced to fight, it will be expected of you, but if most won't look down on you for refusing. Even then, if the attack is not close by then we won't be deployed. Shadow Stalker mentioned that you had only been active a short time, but trust me that joining the Wards is a much better option than most you have available."

Good cop, Bad cop? Really?

The worst part was that it was working; I wanted to be a Hero, and joining the Wards would let me accomplish that much easier than trying to do so alone. All it would cost was my independence. It was a small thing to cling to, but it was all I had that I could call my own.

In the end, it had not really been a question at all. They knew who I was, and they had seen me use my power at a level potentially capable of matching an Endbringer. Even if I walked out of there, they would follow me for the rest of my life. Every action I made would be recorded, scrutinized, and used to try luring me into their fold.

In the end, my answer was reluctant but the best choice I could see.

"There's no other real choice I can take is there? I'll join the Wards, if you keep dad out of it."

"You know we can't do that. You are underage, and we are required by law to have your guardian's consent for you to join the Wards. We are also obligated to inform your guardian that you have triggered in any case. Is this still acceptable?"

At my silent nod she continues."Excellent, I will have the paperwork readied and sent to your residence today."

Piggot stood and left the room, nodding to Miss Militia as she passed. After she was gone, the weapon wielding hero took over my briefing/introduction.

"You are mostly healed already so after this Aegis will show you to the Wards quarters. Once you have signed the papers and settled in we will be evaluating your powers for classification and potential use. I will be handling your training for the first few days, until you get a firm grasp on how things work around here. Other than that there will be no expectations from you; but I do recommend getting to know your potential teammates. Do you have any questions?"

I had one rather important one. "Will I be living here as well? Or am I allowed to go home? What about school?"

"Unless you ask for it specifically, we expect you to keep living at home. I don't know exactly how your home situation will be handled, but the most likely the school will be informed and you will transferred to Arcadia."

After her short informative speech, she stepped outside and called for some nurses to unhook me from the machine and IV drip I was attached to. As they did she bid me farewell and told me to meet her in the practice room at five. A quick glance at the clock above the door told me that this was in almost six hours. After she left Aegis helped me out of the bed and allowed me to use him as a crutch for the first few unsteady steps.

" The wards are unaware of your real identity, Clockblocker saw your face when you were unconscious but does not know your name.

We're close-knit group however, and I hope you will come to trust us eventually, but it is your choice if you want to reveal who you are. Other than that, try to ignore Shadow Stalker she's a bit of a Bitch."

2.2

Before leaving the medical wing, Aegis led me to a small room where my clothes from last night could be found. A relief, as the green hospital scrub that I was dressed in was not really the best piece of clothing that one could wear. The black outfit was singed and burned, but still wearable and I immediately tore of the itchy scrub and began dressed. I felt much safer as I wrapped the smoke smelling scarf around my face. With my identity at least nominally hidden; I relaxed, then blushed as I remembered the presence of Aegis. Face burning red I turned to see the masked hero faced the other way; it seemed like he had at least attempted to give me privacy. I coughed lightly to tell him I was done. He turned back around, and I could see a small smirk on his face.

"I didn't think hospital clothes were that bad. You were lucky I wasn't Clockblocker."

"S-S-Shut up, I've had a bad night." Smooth... I really needed to get out more.

"Yea I saw that; Lung is a bastard to fight, and he just keeps getting stronger the longer it goes on. Good job on matching him by the way, not many can do that."

I looked at him from the corner of my eye, but there was nothing in his face or tone suggesting mockery.

"Thanks, But I don't think I can do it again; it was…" I fumbled around for a word to describe what happened during the fight. "... Instinctive." and failed. He looked at me strangely, then shrugged and moved on.

"Well whatever, Militia will help you figure out your powers. Until then, let me show you around."

The Ward quarter of the PRT Headquarters was impressive. Chromed hallways led into a large dome-shaped room. Like a proud parent Aegis, gestured around the room, eagerly explaining where every door went and what every device did.

He began with a small cluster of doors near the entrance, each marked with a different symbol. "These are the Ward living quarters, they are pretty basic and mostly for those nights we can't make it home or those Wards without somewhere else to go. Respect people's privacy and don't enter unless invited."

We moved on, and worked our way around the circumference of the room. With him pointing out each door in turn and where they led. we finally stopped in front of a large bank of monitors, each displaying different pieces of information. The largest, and easiest to recognize was the map of Brockton Bay. It was covered in different symbols, each most probably represented different things that a Hero organization needed to known, villain hideouts and the like.

After concluding our tour, we both flopped down on separate comfy chairs. Part of a small area meant for relaxation. With nothing else to do, I attempted to strike up a conversation.

"So… You're the leader of the Wards? How's that working out?"

My question elicited a laugh from the masked teen. "Leading is the wrong word for it. Herding is better. All of them, and me I suppose, are very… independent. Clockblocker hates being told what to do, Vista often annoys people with her power, Shadow Stalker likes to brood, Kid win makes things explode, and Gallant can be a bit pretentious. But we work well together and trust each other, so they usually do as I say. How about you, how long have you been a cape?"

I was forced to suppress a small giggle at the thought of a Brooding Shadow Stalker before replying. "I triggered a week ago, but I have only been out two days now."

He stared at me. "Holy shit. A week? How have you had time to train with your power?"

My face flushed. "I haven't."

"Are you crazy? You went out to fight crime and haven't even trained with your powers at all?! Your lucky to be alive! I am going to have to tell Militia about this. She is expecting you to at least have some basic idea of what you can do!" his voice rose through the tirade, and I shrank into myself slightly at the obvious anger.

Seeing me flinch, he calmed himself before speaking again. This time in a much softer tone. "It's dangerous not knowing what you can do; both for yourself, but also for the people around you. Could you imagine if Legend started throwing around attacks without knowing how to modulate them? I need to go speak with Miss Militia about this, please stay in this main area and don't wander off. This place is large and I don't want to have to go find you if you get lost."

He rose, then exited the room, which left me alone. What should I do for the next few hours?

Aegis came to get me an half-hour before the appointed time and found me engrossed with attempting to design a costume. I had found some pen and paper and was laboriously sketching away trying to come up with a practical yet stylish concept. When I heard his comment it felt like wasted time.

"You do know that the PRT has a public relations manager who designs the costumes right?"

My head slumped.

"Don't worry about it. Anyways, time to train, just follow me."

We walked to the same elevator that brought us from the ground floor to the Ward's area, but this time he pressed the button for a sub-basement. The elevator moved smoothly and I had no sensation of movement before we arrived.

Compared to upstairs, this place was utilitarian to the extreme. Concrete corridors and iron doors made up the decor, with bright lamps shining above. Aegis led me to a door about halfway down the hall marked B-4. After telling me to go inside, he left me, moving to the adjacent door instead.

Inside was what could only be the testing ground. The right side of the room was an obstacle course while the left was clear except for scattered targets. The center was dominated by a large pitted cube and everything was made from either grey concrete or smooth steel, the only break in the gray-scale of colors was Miss Militia. Leaning slightly against the large cube she was idly playing with a large knife as I entered the room. As I did so, she sheathed her knife and moved forward to meet me. Before I could ask any questions or say anything. She spoke, voice sharp.

"If you do anything as stupid as going out trying to be a Hero without knowing what you can again, I will kick your ass and stop your paycheck. You _will_ give this one hundred percent, and you _will_ keep training after I no longer have the time. Is this understood?"

There was only one answer I could give. It was both the obvious one, and the one that I silently swore to follow. "Yes, Miss."

The knife shifted into a long pistol. "Good. Now, you have at least some notion of what you can do so I want you to summarize your powers with as few words as possible."

A thousand different ways to say what I could do flitted through my brain, but only two really said it. "Magic Kung-fu"

If she was surprised it didn't show. "That's a start. Now in more detail please, how does it feel to use? What does it do? "

It took the better part of an hour to explain what my power seemed to do; the two pools of power, the mark of mars and the aura, the physics defying martial arts. Most of the time was not taken by the descriptions themselves, but my helpless grasping for words. It was like I knew all the answers but they were just outside my reach. Like a thought on the tip of your tongue. After I was done, Miss Militia took a few minutes to think before speaking aloud. Probably more for the recording devices in the rooms benefit than mine.

"It sounds like a Brute/Breaker/Thinker combo, and perhaps with Trump as well depending on how it really works. Your power seems to enhance Martial arts, making them capable of impossible things but not unnatural ones. So, lets get a baseline. There will be some medical tests later, but for now I was thinking a spar. No powers, just skill. I want to see how much of yours is bound to that energy you mentioned."

As we moved to the open area on the left, I clenched my slightly shaking hands tight. I was nervous, the results here would probably not only shape my future in the Wards but also Miss Militias opinion of me. Taking positions facing each other, I clasped my hands together and bowed- _how did I know this?_ -in the traditional manner. Eyes glinting slightly, Militia returned the gesture.

Suppressing my uncertainty of the memories that seemed to swirl in my mind at random, I focused on the Spar at hand. I instinctively fell into a loose stance, one that felt good, but did not take supernatural power to use. Her weapon sheathed, Miss Militia advanced; her style was unlike any I had seen before, almost blocky in its movements. But I could see the truth, it was a refined thing, each movement carefully calculated to use the minimum amount of energy.

It was a military style, and in the few seconds before she reached me, I had already begun to dissect it's secrets. Her first attack, a short stabbing punch to the sternum, was knocked aside by an elbow, her second much the same. Every time she attempted to attack it was shut down before it could even begin, and only her size and strength prevented me from crushing her defenses.

Her styles greatest strength was also its weakness. It always took the path of least resistance, and was therefore predictable. She soon realized this as well, and her blows became more fluid and unpredictable as she switched to another style. It Became a dance between us, I would read and neutralize whatever she was doing, and she would change. A push and pull like the tides. Time lost meaning as minutes turned to hours, and hours to days.

On the third day, she called her formless weapon to her hands and began anew. Old styles becoming something new in response. As bullets began to whine through the air, each carefully placed to force me along a specific path, I began to pull on the power within me and its kin from without. The mark on my forehead appeared, and crimson light filled with text began to fill the room.

As we fought through the days, my attacks changed nature as her weapon changed forms. I caught her bullets as they hounded me, attempting to disarm her with them only to be foiled by the weapon returning to her side in an instant.

I became fire, flickering like the candle and moving between her attacks as I closed. But each time I attempted to strike, concussive force from explosions drove me back. The light around me became a shining stroboscopic rainbow, blinding and dazing her, but the endless lead of a machine gun lost me that advantage. For two weeks and a day we fought, But I could feel myself begin to tire even as she seemed unhindered. With defeat a certainty unless something changed, I trusted in the uncertain and attacked with calm disregard. I weaved through bullets and danced through knife blows and in the space between heartbeats I struck; an open palm blow to her lungs that forced the breath from them out in a great sigh.

I retreated, and like so the spar is over and reality seemed to return. Confused I looked around, and spotted Aegis standing by the open door with his mouth hung open in shock. Miss Militia, with a wild look in her eyes, focused on the young man with an intense stare and asked him a question that burned in my mind as well.

"How long have we been in here?"

He stammers for a second before pulling himself together and answering. "About one and a half hours. You have been sparring for fifteen minutes."

There is silence.

2.3

After Miss Militia and I collected ourselves from the strange spar we had just experienced, we left the training hall together with Aegis for the observation room to talk. It was the same room where I had seen Aegis enter earlier. The inside was dominated by a large conference table, and the walls were covered in monitors each of which displayed a different angle of the training room we had just left.

By silent agreement, we choose our seats to be clustered together near the entrance. Aegis and I sat down first, while Miss Militia detoured to retrieve a small controller from a cupboard in the corner. Aegis was the first to speak, voice questioning.

"What happened in there, Militia? I thought you were supposed to fight without powers. Not to mention all the crazy things you pulled. I think I counted four or five different abilities from Taylor, and even you were doing things I have never seen you do before."

The older cape was quiet for a moment, seemingly contemplating what to say. When she spoke it was with a clear and steady voice that cut through uneasy atmosphere.

"Fifteen days. That's how long we fought in there, or at least how long it felt like. Fifteen days or pure, focused, and uninterrupted combat training against an opponent who could keep up. I learned more about myself and my powers in the spar today than I have in a long time. Properly used, this power could be an incredibly powerful tool in our fight against injustice. Taylor-"

She turned to me, eyes burning with the ideas she had flowing through her head. "I will speak to Armsmaster and Piggot about this; but if I can get clearance, I would like for you to help train both the Wards and the PRT."

Butterflies filled my stomach, her enthusiasm was both exciting and scary. While I understood what she was saying, and agreed in principle, I felt compelled to point out a rather large flaw in her plan. "I'm not even sure how I did that. It didn't happen when I fought the Empire or Lung and I still don't even know what my power really is."

Her enthusiasm quieted slightly at my words, but I could see that it was still present. I do not think she had given up on the idea yet. Manipulating the controller she had gotten earlier, she began rewinding the view on one of the screens, making both Aegis and I look on in interest.

"Regarding your powers, I still think my original thoughts are valid. But I want to see our fight to make sure." She pressed a button and on the screen, I could see myself facing the confident form of Miss Militia. She attacked first, but the moment she did everything changed.

It was a strange thing to see; it would be wrong to say that we moved faster than normally, instead it looked almost as if we were moving slower, but reacting to everything instantly. We moved through different fighting styles at an insane tempo, often spending less than a few seconds before shifting. Then at around the two-minute mark, it escalated. Miss militia's weapon leaped to her hand, and my forehead lit up with the mark of Mars.

Then things really went insane. When I switched martial arts it was no longer a matter of simple movements or styles, but of something much greater. In one I burst into smoldering flame and smoke, in another Strobing lights marked my passage with blinding rays. All that was consistent was the glowing red aura that began gathering strength and the mark on my head. The fight ended after fifteen minutes with a punch that seemed to come from nowhere, knocking the air from Militia's lungs. As the video ended, she spoke again voice confident.

"It's pretty much what I said before; at the most basic level you are enhancing Martial Arts, but It's definitely a Trump. It seems that you are using the conceptual ideas behind the styles on some level. I recognized Crane style among the things you were using; but beyond anything it could do in reality. You probably won't be able to do anything to powerful with just that, but your skill evens the field with a lot of enemies."

She looked at me, eyes crinkled form what I assume to be a smile.

"Once you've had your medical exam and our analysts have had time to watch this, you will get a written dossier on what we believe your strength and weaknesses are. I would recommend reading it."

She stood, walking over the cupboard from before and pulling out a small disk from an obscured device. "I need to get this upstairs, so ask Aegis if you need anything else."

With a final goodbye she exited the room, leaving an awkward silence behind.

"So…" Aegis' voice was hesitant

"I think that whatever happened might have had a mental effect as well." My voice was quiet, almost a whisper from the fear that I might have done something to Miss Militia. Something Aegis seemed to pick up.

"Don't worry about it-" His voice was reassuring. "-Even if something did happen, we have a lot of people trained to handle that kind of stuff, so relax. She didn't seem hurt or anything; just excited." He pulled himself out of his chair, gesturing for me to rise as well. "How about we go back to the Ward's quarters, the others should be back from patrol now and I think it might be nice for you to meet them before you go home."

Home, it felt like a lifetime ago I was there, and I did not look forward to the conversation with dad. Pushing those thoughts away for the moment I followed Aegis to the elevator, noting that I seemed to be moving with much better balance and posture compared to a before the spar. Another thing chalked up on the to be investigated board. It was starting to get crowded on there.

As we waited for the Elevator, Aegis spoke again; his voice light.

"You still don't have a name right?"

I shook my head.

"Well unless you want to introduce yourself with your real name, you need one pretty quick."

His face lit with mischief. "How about Disco. You looked like a Disco ball back there."

I groaned at the horrible suggestion, and almost by itself my hand stretched out and slapped the back of his head to indicate my displeasure.

"No, that's a stupid idea and you should feel bad for even saying it out loud."

2.4

The door of the elevator slid open silently to the entrance hallway and Aegis and I exited, still discussing what I should call cape persona.

"- how about Kung Fu Cherry? You looked a bit like a Cherry what with the red glow and you do kung fu."

I groaned. "Could you please try to be serious? Please?"

If he was repentant at hall it didn't show. " Mars? You have the sign thingy on your face."

Something inside me recoiled at the suggestion, it felt almost blasphemous and my reply was sharper than I meant it to be. "NO!" I blushed at the outburst. "No... Not Mars; it doesn't feel... Right. I was thinking about Montage, or maybe Sensei or something."

He looked at me dubiously. "Not the most intimidating names are they?"

"Well neither is Aegis!" I quieted for a moment, as I was trying to come up with a name, alien thoughts intruded in my mind once again- _This tyranny has gone on long enough! I am a chosen of the Maiden of Battles, and you will answer for your crimes Lawgiver!_ -I gasped lightly. Compared to the other times the memory was much more _solid_, burning through my mind with crystal clarity.

I needed to speak with someone about what was happening to me, but I was hesitant. Both because it could get me quarantined and because it felt _private_ in some deep, fundamental, way. I refocused on reality and noticed that I had stopped. Aegis had done so as well and looked at me with concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay? You just spaced out suddenly."

I waved of his concern, pushed the question of my deteriorating sanity to the back of my mind once more, and restarted our conversation with only the slightest hesitant pause. "How about Wuxia?"

He looked unconvinced, but did not push the issue as we opened the last door to the Ward quarters. "Sounds okay, let's go with that for now. If it's a problem Glenn will take care of it."

Who was Glenn? Before I could ask however, I found myself in front of Aegis' team. They were still in costume, so I recognized them from their Paranet profiles. Aegis took control again, and lightly pushed me forward and introduced me to them.

"Say hello to Wuxia everyone, she might be joining us soon. Wuxia, everyone. I think you know who they are."

To one side, Clockblocker who sat slumped in a chair playing a game on a handheld device raised his hand in greeting. "Hey, nice to see you up and about; nice to see someone who doesn't complain after almost being burned alive!" He lowered his voice to a stage-whisper "I think most people are just too prissy, they should learn to suck it up."

Whatever more he tried to say was interrupted by a light slap that launched his device into the air from Vista. He leapt after it with a shout, which left Vista facing me alone with a small grin on her face.

"Ignore the idiot; I at least am sorry we didn't arrive earlier to help you out." She reached out and shook my hand. "Nice to see another girl on the team, Shadow Stalker isn't the greatest conversationalist and the boys… well they're boys."

Taking a single step she was gone, moving instantly to another part of the room through use of her powers. Turning slightly I found that Shadow Stalker had watched me speak with Vista rather intently from a few meters away.A look in her eyes I couldn't decipher. When she saw me it disappeared, and she approached me. "Well that didn't last long did it?" her tone was wry, and very different from when I met her on patrol. "I see you got yourself a name; good for you, Wuxia."

Before I could do more than mumble a thanks she turned and left, stalking to a shadowed corner of the room. The last two boys walked together Kid Win, almost bouncing.. actually bouncing in mid-air; probably from some sort of anti-gravity device, and Gallant walking with an easy gait and a smile on his face.

Kid Win reached me first. Reaching out a hand in welcome, even as he began to tilt over in mid-air. I took it, and twisted my wrist so he realigned with the ground. "Thanks, I'm still working out the kinks in these things." he gestured to what looked like a series of rings around his legs. "Hope you join up, always fun to get new people with new ideas on the team."

A hand clad in silver gently pushed the floating Kid Win away, and Gallant stepped forward to fill his place. I shook his armored hand, slightly surprised at how warm it was, before exchanging greetings. "Hello Wuxia, hope the others didn't scare you off." We moved to a small social area, I sat in an armchair back straight and nerves tense. Taking a seat in a couch opposite me, Gallant tapped his fingers in a formless melody against his knee as he spoke.

"Relax, I know it's a bit intimidating to meet the heroes you've probably seen on T.V. or read about in real life. But don't worry, we're just as human as the next person"

Intimidated? Who, me? whatever reply I would have used was interrupted by the flying form of Kid Win colliding with my head and knocking me over.

I spent the next two hours just hanging with the wards. We talked, well mostly they talked about being a hero and I listened, and we did silly things like playing volleyball with Kid Win as the ball. It was fun, and if nothing else I would join the wards just for that. Even Shadow Stalker joined in, if a little reluctantly.

I imagined that was what having friends is like.

Unfortunately, my reception at home was less pleasant.

Dad was a conflicted mess of sadness and worry all tinted with suppressed rage. We didn't even speak that night, he sent me to my room as soon as I got home. As I went to bed I pointedly ignored the repeated heavy thumps coming from his room.

The next morning I found him sitting at the kitchen table with sunken eyes and a cup of coffee in his hands. Silently I took a seat opposite him. With one hand he pushes a small stack of papers over to me before speaking.

"I don't really know what to think and I don't know what's worse. That you ran off and did something so stupid or the fact that you apparently had it so bad that you triggered."

I tried raising my voice in protest, but the words got stuck in my throat.

"Don't say anything, the PRT man was very _Descriptive_ on what could cause a trigger event and they made no secret of that they would be watching me to see that I wasn't the cause."

Anger rose. "they have no right-" he raised a hand to stop me.

"They have every right. The fact that things got so bad without me noticing made me sick. Then you go and get yourself in a fight with _Lung_? That man has a reputation down at the docks, and it isn't pretty. You managed to piss him off, I've been getting calls all day from concerned workers about how he is rampaging through the docks area."

He sighed, taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"You're a smart girl Taylor, and willful. If you want to be a hero you'll probably do so with or without my permission, so I signed the papers-" He gestured to the stack in front of me while running an aggravated hand through his hair. "If you sign them you can join the Wards, and I would rather have you part of an official team with support and help if things go wrong than you going out on your own."

I jumped out of my seat and ran around the table, and engulfed him in a hug, babbling thanks and apologies. His arms came around me and I relaxed into the gesture, taking strength from his love.

The next day when I entered the protectorate headquarters I found Miss Militia waiting for me next to the lobby desk.

"You have your papers in order?"

I waved a folder containing all the papers I had read and signed last night. Miss Militia took it and it on the desk beside her. Gesturing for me to follow her, she began to move to the elevator. Well inside, she spoke. "Today will be mostly Medical testing and other such boring things; but before that, you're going to meet Glenn." The name was spoken with a definite tinge of fear mixed with respect.

Who was Glenn and why was I going to meet him? When i voiced the question all I got back was a shrug and the answer that she didn't want to ruin the surprise. As the elevator doors opened on an unfamiliar floor, thoughts on who Glenn could be flashed in my mind. Perhaps he was a Thinker that could tell me more about my power? Or maybe some sort of training android to test me against. The ideas only became more and more outlandish as we approached a simple wooden door with the name Glenn Chambers in discrete letters on the outside. When Militia gestured for me to enter, my hand was almost shaking in anticipation and fear.

Who, or what, was Glenn?

2.5

My first thought when I entered the room was that someone had slipped me drugs.

Bright colors clashed across the walls in a cacophony of conflicted impressions and in the center of the room, behind a desk piled high with papers of various sizes and shapes, stood a man.

He was short and pudgy, but that was just a footnote in the... _existence_ that he was. Clad in a horrible combination of bright purple and screaming orange, with hair that seemed to straddle the line between hairstyle and statue. I almost felt my eyes begin to water at the sight. After he spotted me he put down the paper he had been reading and rose to meet me, one hand extended to greet me.

"Welcome to the Wards Wuxia. I am Glenn Chambers, Head of public relations for the PRT."

His hand was sweaty and soft, but I felt callouses that spoke of much effort on them as well. My answer was subdued; now that the initial rush of my power had faded, my natural shyness had returned in full force. "A pleasure to meet you."

His face twisted and a wounded look took his cheer's place. "No, No, No! You must be Bold! Confident! You are a Hero now, and you need to be a paragon. Straighten your spine and stand up straight. Show yourself to the world and shout!"

His voice rose through the tirade, and his arms gestured wildly. His face reddened from effort, and for a moment I worried that he would faint. Then he deflated, and calmed down slightly.

"Sorry about that, but it's true. You will be exposed to the world as a Hero, your every action recorded, dissected, and commented. Whether for good or ill, people will know who you are. You need to be an inspiration."

He moved back to his desk, and pulled out several pictures and small plastic replicas of several famous heroes. " We try to make heroes heroic. If you take away the costumes and powers all you have left is people fighting. My job is to make normal people into legends." He held up a picture of the triumvirate. "All three of the triumvirate are presented as more than human, almost perfect idols for the masses. This works for them but for the most part they are exceptions. Most heroes need a more down-to-earth approach, to be more approachable. So try to remember that when you are in the field or better yet, whenever you're in costume; Presentation is everything."

He put down the picture and rubbed his hands together in excitement. "Well enough about that, let's talk about you." He took a step back, and I could see in his eyes that he had just mentally stripped me. However, there was no lust or perversion in his gaze, just a steely professional glint in his eyes.

"You're tall, which is good, if a bit on the thin side. Skin seems to be okay, and no obvious scars. But the eyes… Red eyes…. Hmm, tricky.

Black is out of course; too many bad connotations, especially with those eyes. Red might work, but might be too close to blood…" I wondered if he even knew that I was in the room any more.

"White is a classic, but it's a bit boring these days. The people want something fresh!" He sighed, then spoke to me.

"Could you move through some of your fighting forms; I want some idea on how you would move in combat."

With no reason to refuse, I dropped into a basic stance and began moving through the motions of punching and kicking. I tried to show off the full range of movements and found that it was rather relaxing. As I moved I thought about the strange memories that seemed to be growing stronger, I had noticed a rather clear correlation between me "discovering" new magical martial arts and the memories, but I was reluctant to simply accept it as a benign thing.

The thought of losing myself scared me, and if there was anyone that could help, the protectorate probably knew them. With that in mind I made my decision, I would try getting some alone time with Miss Militia as soon as possible to speak to her about this.

My train of thought was interrupted by Glenn's voice. "You can stop now. I have what I need."

I stopped. Glenn was no longer standing, having retaken his seat and was sketching furiously on a block of paper. Without looking up he dismisses me.

"Well that's all for today; I will probably have the first trial costume done in a few days, so you can look forward to that! If I need your help or any more information, I will probably just send someone to get you. Now go, I require peace to make miracles!"

Compared to the eccentric head of the PR department, the medical staff was downright drab. It was pretty standard tests; blood, sight, hearing, etc. The only high point, if you could call it that, was the MRI scan that they did. For some reason they redid it, twice, and seemed very interested in the results.

When I asked about it however, they just brushed it off as nothing important. Yea right. Unfortunately in their eyes I was underage and therefore "didn't need to know".

After that however, came the more Esoteric tests. The ones developed to classify a capes power. Some of them were simple, they measured how much force I could exert and how much pressure was needed to bruise me. Others were downright strange; like giving me samples of hundreds of different materials and asking me if I reacted to any of them.

Then came the more personalized test. There was no sparring, instead I was led onto a platform surrounded by cameras and told to show them what I could do. I began to demonstrate the martial arts that I knew, beginning with the more comfortable "Crane Style" and moving on into the new-found katas where light obscured me or I burst into smoky flame. All the while the red aura around me grew stronger the more I pulled on the _power_ inside me.

The clinical nature of the test did help me to isolate the cause of both the glow and the mark; When I used the power from within myself, no matter to what extent, there was nothing. Well, nothing except the effects I used it to produce. But when I began to draw on the pool of power that was outside me? Then the mark immediately appeared, and the red aura began gaining in strength.

I also found that I could enhance my normal actions with it, burning it almost like fuel to do things I don't think I could have done otherwise. I balanced on one hand effortlessly, I could suppress my pain response and make myself harder to hurt, and I could learn small facts about people simply by watching them interact.

After it all was done, I was forced to wait for a few hours before they could present me with my rating according to their system. I Idly wondered why they made such a big deal out of the whole affair while I waited, but found that i was surprisingly eager myself to learn what they thought of my powers. A man who i recognized as having been with me through the entire process from a small stain on his doctor's coat told me the result.

Brute 2/ Thinker 3/ Trump 3

2.6

My hunt for Miss Militia ended when I found her downstairs in the reinforced basement training hall where we had sparred yesterday. She was training, whittling away at the central block of concrete with countless bullets spraying from a multitude of weapons. Her transforming weapon switched between forms so fast it looked more like a blurry cloud in her hands than a solid thing. The only clue I could use to figure out what weapon she was using at any moment was how she was standing; larger weapons required a wider stance, while smaller ones allowed her to move more. The sheer amount of firepower had slowly been drilling its way through the block, and I silently thanked her for not going all out when we sparred; there wouldn't have been much left of me if she had.

I entered the room quietly, careful not to disturb her practice, taking a seat on the floor, and begun meditating to pass the time. It surprised me how relaxing it was, and the time until I heard the constant gunfire stop had not bored me at all. In fact, I even felt refreshed. As soon as the noise faded away, I opened my eyes to see that Miss Militia had noticed my presences. When she saw that i was awake, she spoke.

"Wuxia, right? I like the name, it fits you."

I blushed slightly. "Thank you. I wanted to talk to you-" I hesitated, the words catching in my throat. I coughed and mentally slapped myself. Come on, I could do this. I tried again.

"I wanted to talk to you about some strange memories I've been having since I triggered."

Her eyes sharpened, and she leaned forward. "Strange how?"

"They are not mine. Sometimes, it's like someone else takes over; but its strange, because afterwards I can still remember it feeling like it was _me_. It even happens when I dream; I remember these impossible things, and I'm scared that I'm losing my mind or, even worse, someone is messing with it..."

I felt tears gather in the corners of my eyes. Swallowing the helpless feeling, I continued. "Even my martial arts seem to come from them, every time they take over my I remember... Learn... new things."

Her face, which had fallen slightly when I began, shifted into a concerned expression as I explained. Her exposed brow furrowed. "That... That's very strange. I haven't heard of any cape that can do anything like that."

I forced myself to say the next words. "What about Simurgh?"

"No, at least I hope not, if she could do something this extensive without being active then we would already have lost. No this is probably something else, something new." She paused for a moment.

"Is there any specific trigger? Anything that would allow you to try inducing an episode?"

"Why would I want to do that? I want it to stop!" What kind of idea was that?

She sighed. "You need to understand the problem before you can even try effecting it. Now from what you said, these flashbacks seems to be tied to your power in some way. If that is so, then it would be a good idea to figure out what it is before you really need it and don't have access. Right?"

I was still put off at the idea of purposely trying to call on the memories, but what Miss Militia said was logical. It had already proven its worth against Lung, and if I faced someone that powerful again it might be the only thing capable of keeping me alive. With that in mind, I decided to agree to her idea.

"Okay, I'll give it a shot. How do I do this?"

She laughed lightly. "I don't know. Like I said, this is new to me. But I do have an idea, assuming you don't know exactly what triggers it-"

"I don't."

"Then try this: Get comfortable, and focus your thoughts on your memories then do that thing where you start glowing. If nothing else it will be relaxing." I must have still looked unsure, because she reached out and lay a comforting hand on my arm. "Don't worry, I'll stay here and keep you company."

Bolstered by her words, I settled back into my meditative position. As I began channeling both my inner and outer power reserves, I felt my stomach doing flip flops. I didn't know if I really wanted this to work. I don't want to become someone else.

Time passed slowly as I sat there. Or at least I thought it did. With nothing except my heartbeat and steady lowering amount of power I had left to measure time with, I had lost track of it. With nothing else to do and trying to ignore what I was actually attempting, I focused on the power deep inside me.

It was like sinking slowly into an ocean with every breath.

_in_

The silence was comforting now, a blanket around me.

_out_

Fear bleed out of me, leaving only a serene calm that I think I could easily grow to love.

_in_

The world seemed so far away, a glimmer in the distance, but nothing more.

out

_I usually spent the few hours before battle in meditation if I could. It helped me collect myself for whatever was to come. Every battle I had seen was a reminder of the mortality of all things. I had seen the creators of a world die, I had seen gods slain like insects, I had seen the greatest kings and queens creation had ever seen slaughtered._

I knew mortality, and I knew I would one day welcome death. But until then I would fight, and even as the world broke around me, I clung to that conviction. For a thousand battles I had survived and prospered, even as my enemies did not. Today would be no different.

The gates of Yu-Shan are my charge, and they will not fall.

I opened my eyes.

2.7

_As soon as I opened my eyes I froze. I was no longer in the command pavilion, instead I was in a large grey room that I had never seen before. My mind raced; as it took in everything it could about my surroundings, I was already planning a dozen different paths to escape if needed. When I was satisfied that my preliminary scan was complete enough to be of use I focused on the woman clad in dark green facing me, hand resting on what looked like some sort of firewand. I relaxed; if she was the reason I was here then I needed to be careful, I was not one you easily could surprise. I kept my voice level, but with just a hint of command to remind her just who she was dealing with._

_"Who are you, and why have you taken me from Yu-Shan?"_

_As her face filled with confusion, I sighed then repeated the request for information in every language I knew. Her confused expression only grew deeper as i spoke, and I n_  
_Began to grow interested. I knew almost every language spoken in Creation, the fact that she didn't understand any of them was a curiosity."_

_Well the communications problem at least was easily solved. I pulled on my Essence, noting as I did that the pool seemed much smaller than I was used to. Forming it according to my will, I ensnared the female and myself in it's bindings even as I felt my caste mark appear and my anima flare. _

_Through the tenuous bond I poured my understanding of low realm into her mind. I ignored her gasp of surprise at the sudden knowledge, and instead pulled myself to my feet. _

_"Now that we can understand each other, I want to know how I have come to be here. Your lack of understanding of even the most basic of tongues seems to preclude you from being the cause of my relocation, but you should at least have seen how I entered the room."_

_She looked at me in surprise, but rallied with admirable swiftness. _

_" Did you just insult me? I'll have you know that I speak several languages, it is just that those you were speaking were not like anything that I have heard of before." She shook her head. "Anyway, that's not important right now. What do you mean entered this room? You just... Possessed Wuxia!"_

_I blinked for a second. Then turned my senses inward. I has noted that my body was different and had attributed it to a resplendent destiny, but on closer inspection that idea fell apart. The largest sign that something was amiss and that the woman I was speaking to might be correct was my essence. Or rather the lack of it. The vast store of power I had amassed over the millennium was gone. In its stead was the much smaller, if still respectable, power of a newly exalted Sidereal. _

_I laughed then. A bitter laugh filled with the regrets of a lifetime. I had failed; Yu-Shan had fallen, and with it Creation. It was ironic that the weapons that freed Creation would be both what destroyed it and survived its absence. I was not even me; my soul had been gone for a long time, "I" was nothing more than residual memories bound to a shard of power._

_But now my new self needed me, without the support of the celestial bureau the new side-_Taylor_-real must be confused. I don't know how much she would remember of my thoughts, so I would have to make do with the third party I had available. She needed information, for a celestial exalt with no knowledge of what they could do was a danger to both themselves and the world. I was limited in what I was willing to share with this woman, but with some careful thought and well chosen words, I would be able to at least convey the basics without revealing too much to an unknown._

_Moving slowly not to provoke her I rose, then bowed in greeting. "My name is The Crimson Watcher of Jade. But I prefer to be known as Hong, and I am the memories of the last person who used the powers young "Wuxia" now own."_

_Ignoring her silence, I continued. "I am... was, one of the chosen of Battles, a normal human gifted with the spiritual super-weapon that is an exaltation. The place I come from is no more and I do not know how I came to be here, but there are some things you must know. Things you must tell "Wuxia"."_

_Her answer was blunt and filled with conviction. " I don't know if i believe you, but I will at least give you a chance to explain. If what you say is true and it will help Wuxia, then I will relay you message." _

_I nodded, that would have to do. " well then, I don't know how much time I have left, so lets get started. _

_At the core of everything, is essence-"_

I came back to reality from a pounding pain that seemed to fill my entire head. Slowly sitting up on the soft bed, I groaned pinched the bridge of my nose in a fruitless attempt to relive the headache.

Had I been drinking last night or something?

Then the memories poured in. Of waking up, of a conversation with Miss Militia that stretched deep into the night, and of taking up her offer to sleep in her bed instead of going home so late at night alone. It surprised me that the memories felt so much like my own. Looking back at yesterday now, There was no sense that I hadn't been in control the whole time. Wait. Where was I exactly?

I scrambled out of the bed, Miss militia's bed, noting with some relief that I was still wearing the smoky clothes from my battle with Lung. Bringing up an arm to my nose, I recoiled at the stench. Both it and me needed a vigorous wash.

Putting it that aside for now, I left the small almost cupboard like bedroom into the main area of what I assumed to be Miss Militias quarters in the PRT headquarters. There I found the room's owner sitting at a table with a laptop in front of her. Taking a seat opposite her, I tried to apologize.

"Sorry for taking your bed"

Her reply was kind, If slightly distracted by the computer. "I don't sleep."

She looked up at me, eyes focused. "How much do you remember from last night?"

"All of it. Now it doesn't even feel like there was any other person in control."

Miss Militia sighed and dragged one hand through her hair. "It's a hell of a situation. If what he said is true… Well then you are technically not even a parahuman. Your something completely different."

Popping open the disc drive on her laptop, she pulled out a DVD. "This is the only copy of last nights surveillance tapes, I deleted the rest. "What should I do with it?"

She was asking me? I felt compelled to ask: "Why are you doing this for me? This could get you into a lot of trouble!"

She looked at me, eyes heavy with some emotion I couldn't identify. "I remember everything from since I triggered. Every moment of my life since then is stored in my mind perfectly."

Uncertainty crossed her face for a moment before it was replaced with resolve. "I even remember how I got my powers. A vast creature, stretching into infinity and shedding shards of itself even as it died. One of those shards is attached to me, and I believe that every parahuman has one as well. Then I remember forgetting.

I have never told anyone this. It sounds crazy, and is something I can never prove, but I know what it's like living with the knowledge that a part of you is in turn a part of something much greater. Your life has and will change because of this. The least I can do is give you the choice if you want to spread this information to others."

I could feel tears threatening to spill from my eyes; this was one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for me. I would replace her trust in me, I promised myself that.

"Can you please keep the disc for now? Don't turn it in but keep it, it might become useful someday."

She nodded. "I can do that. Now you should get going, I called you father yesterday but he is probably anxious for your return."

I rushed around the table and hugged her in thanks. Then almost ran out the room, face burning red, almost missing her bemused expression.

I think this Hero thing might work out.

2.8

A few days after my conversation with Miss Militia, I came into the Ward's quarters to find a small stack of boxes with Wuxia's name on them. I suppressed the natural urge to open them and instead walked around the pile for a clue to who sent them. Tucked neatly between two of the boxes, I found a letter. Or rather, the shockingly pink paper forced itself to be found. Even before I opened it, I could guess who it was from.

Like I thought it was a letter from Glenn, who in it explained that the boxes contained my new costume and several spares. It also went on to mention that he had included a mask that he recommended I wear instead of the scarf that was now serving to obscure my identity. Now knowing who had sent them I tore into the packages, only faintly noting the swishing sound of the doors opening behind me.

My first impression was of cloth; for a moment I thought he had sent me a bedsheet. Then I carefully lay it on the ground and began assembling the outfit for inspection. It was primarily white, with crimson trimmings and patterns woven throughout the garment. It had two main pieces, a top and bottom, both almost billowing with extraneous cloth. It was obviously inspired by Asian martial arts movies, large sleeves and impracticable designs.

I sighed. This would be almost useless in a real fight. The mask on the other hand was more to my liking. It was made up of two parts, to be worn together, but both also functional on its own; the first was a simple half-mask of white cloth, embellished by twin marks of mars on either side. The second was a stylized face in some white plastic, like a classical Greek statue I could wear, It was decorated by a pattern of intertwining red lines; I immediately recognized them from the aura I manifested when I used my power. Looking over what I had gotten, I decided that while the mask passed muster, the clothes needed to be improved.

Before I could pick it up and return it to Glenn as a lost cause, Clockblocker scared me by speaking up from behind.

"Try it on. It might look worthless, but Glenn knows what he's doing. Even worse, if you return it without at least trying it on, I think he might cry."

The worst part is that he was right; I could easily imagine the eccentric fashion designer bursting into tears if I dismissed his work out of hand. Shuddering at the thought, I gathered up the two pieces of clothing and moved into the bathroom for privacy to change.

As soon as I began pulling on the garments I noticed three things that immediately began to make me regret doubting Glenn's expertise:

Hidden from my visual inspection I found that the outfit actually had separate components. Obscured by the flowing fabric, I discovered that both the top and the pants had a skin tight "core" with small overlapping flexible plates of armor that protected my vitals and extremities.

Also the large sections of cloth that could potentially hinder my movements were detachable, cunningly sewn and crafted to be easy to both pull off and reattach. I tried it several times and found that in less than five seconds I could completely discard all the unnecessary sections leaving me with only the armored core of the costume.

Lastly there were a huge amount of pockets for storage all through the costume, allowing me to store any number of different handy items if I needed it.

I felt my ears burn in embarrassment at my earlier dismissal; this costume would work out just fine. Pulling on the Half-mask I gathered my old clothes in my hands and stepped back out into the main area where Clockblocker was standing with a cocky tilt in his stance.

"Well? How is it?" I could hear the amusement in his voice. I could feel my face flushing again.

"It's fine! You were right, It's a very good costume."

He laughed, then held out a hand. Somewhat baffled, I took it. He shook it enthusiastically, speaking with a light tone.

"Well then, now that you have a proper costume and everything; let me be the first to properly welcome you to the Wards!"

I felt the mask crinkle as I smiled, I finally felt like a hero. At the thought, I could feel myself be revitalized, energy filling my limbs and pools. I laughed, my life had never been better.

It took two weeks for something other than normal patrols to happen after I got my costume. For two weeks, almost every night, I joined one or two of the Wards in their Patrols. It was an interesting experience, each of them had completely different styles and habits. From Shadow Stalker's rooftop hopping hunter's patrols to Gallant's walking among the civilians and speaking with them about everyday life. While I did find it illuminating, when the alarm for a general summons came I was almost happy. Something that surprised me, I was usually one to seek conflict.

Unlike me, the Wards seemed less interested in the alarm and more afraid. Wondering why, I asked. Aegis was the one who answered.

"General Alarms like this usually only happen when something REALLY bad is going down. Stuff like Slaughterhouse 9 or an Endbringer attack."

Shit. I felt my happiness at the thought of action plummet. A few minutes later we found ourselves crammed into a briefing room with what seemed to be the entire base. Armsmaster took to the podium, and the entire room fell silent.

"For those of you wondering this is not and Endbringer attack-" Everyone sighed with relief. "-but this could easily be just as dangerous. We just got word that the Empire eighty-eight and the ABB are fighting it out in the docks. Normally we wouldn't call in everyone for this but we also got confirmation on that Lung is active and fighting Kaiser, and from what our satellites could pick up it looks like he has been preparing. Thermal bloom and visuals seem to indicate that he is nearing the level that he fought against Leviathan with. We have already called in the Triumvirate, but until they arrive we need to keep the citizen safe and contain the damage as best we can.

We will be going in with a modified Behemoth plan, PRT will stay on the outskirts controlling the populace and subduing any stragglers. The Wards will be inside this cordon and try capturing or neutralizing as many gang members as you can with a focus on parahumans. Miss Militia and I will be joining the fight and attempting to move it towards the bay and away from the city.

We don't have much time, so we are going now. Just remember the plan and don't do anything stupid. The Triumvirate will probably get here within the hour and I don't want to report any casualties.

Dismissed."

By the time he was finished I was almost hyperventilating with fear, only Gallants steady grip on my shoulder keeping me upright. My first real debut as an official hero and I had to face an all out gang war with Parahumans. In response to my panic, I could feel alien thoughts- _Hong_ -brushing against my conscious mind. It was surprisingly calming. I felt my breathing steady, and clenched my hand.

I had fought Lung on my own, I had won over two of the Empires Parahumans, And I would not let fear get the better of me. Tonight I would show the world that I was worth being called a Hero.

2.9

As we approached the docks area, the temperature rose. The cool January air heating up from Lung's ability. We moved in a group, the wards moving through the city quickly by using the rooftops to avoid the panicking mass of people below. I almost stumbled when I saw the docks.

A dull crimson glow illuminated the entire seaside area, originating from a single point near the shore. Burning buildings dotted the landscape, and it looked more like a depiction of hell than Brockton Bay. Behind me I heard the low exclamations of shock from the Wards.

"What the hell is Lung thinking?" Gallant asked "Even if he escapes now there will probably be a Kill order waiting the next time he surfaces."

Aegis voice was controlled, any doubts hidden. "That doesn't matter right now. We need to focus on our jobs."

The group fell silent as we continued our movements deeper into the docks. As we did I felt sweat begin to roll down my body, I estimated that it must be more than twenty degrees hotter here compared to the rest of the city. After a few minutes, Aegis signaled for us to stop with a raised hand.

"All right, to cover more ground we are going to split up. Shadow Stalker and Wuxia, you do a sweep to the right. Take out any fighting gang members and but don't call for pickup unless they are Parahuman, we don't have enough resources to take in everyone.

Gallant, you and Clockblocker will do the same to the right, while Vista, Kid Win, and I will take the center. Keep watch for Lung and retreat and call it in if you notice him approaching. DO NOT even think about engaging him, he will probably kill you without a second thought. Everyone understand?

I hesitated for a moment before raising a questioning hand. " What about civilians?"

"Keep them as safe as possible, but focus on stopping the fighting. We can't do much about the fires right now either but if you can, try rescuing anyone trapped."

He swept his gaze over the group. "Alright, let's go."

Shadow Stalker and I moved together, we leap from rooftop to rooftop our movements describing a great arc towards the shoreline. We scanned the roads and alleys as we passer, but there was little requiring our interference. Most of the fighting had already died down, with only small groups of stragglers that we picked off with ease left. Instead of easing my fears it ratcheted it up higher, where were all the parahumans? I hadn't seen any signs of their presence.

Ten minutes later my question was answered by a house collapsing from a series of explosions.

We glanced at each other in silent agreement before angling towards the dust choked area. When we arrived the obscuring dust had mostly settled but I could see my costume rapidly begin to shift from white to a smudgy grey. I resisted the urge to sigh.

The source of the collapse became readily apparent when a series of explosions blew away the remaining obstruction. A mutated metal beast of screaming and whirling blades that only vaguely resembled a wolf, Hookwolf, was hunched facing a black clad man with a demonic mask, Oni Lee. Hookwolf had taken a beating, with large chunks of his metal shell cracked or missing entirely. But even as I watched the damage ground shut as new metal growths sealed any imperfections. Without warning Oni lee burst into ash and appeared behind the Murderous metal beast. In seconds half-a-dozen masked clones stood around the iron canineform and it only had time to desperately throw itself through one of the before the until now hidden grenade they held in their hands exploded, I guessed that was the reason for the collapse.

I stood frozen for a second; who should we help? Should we help?

Then Shadow Stalker pulled me down into a crouch. As another series of explosions rippled through the night air, she began preparing her crossbows. While I couldn't see her face I imagined it was tight with concentration.

"Do you know how to use a crossbow?"

For a second I boggled, who the hell knew how to use a crossbow these days? Then I shook my head. "No, I've had no reason to learn."

"Damn." she thrust one into my hands, already loaded with a dart. "better learn quickly then. We are going to try sniping both from here, and I need all my concentration to hit that slippery bastard Oni Lee. You get Hookwolf."

"I have no idea how to use this beyond point and shoot!" I protested.

"Well that is the gist of it." Her reply was sarcastic. "I don't expect you to hit, but it will at least distract Hooky down there and give us time to move. But in the one-in-a-million chance you actually hit, that dart is heavily laced with sedatives and should take him out even if you just manage to scratch him through that armor of his."

Fuck, this was probably going to end in tears. probably mine.

The crossbow felt surprisingly natural in my hands and as we stealthily moved to the edge of the roof I, for the first time, began pulling on Hong's memories to aid me. I shifted my grip slightly, settling the weapon against my chest securely.

We were silent as we took up our positions, slowly lining up our shots with the wildly moving targets below. I ignored the explosions, the screeching sound of metal tearing through concrete, and Shadow Stalker flickering into shadows. There was nothing except me and my chosen target. My breath hitched.

"Now"

As I exhaled, power flared deep inside me and I pulled the trigger. With a near silent twang the bolt leaps from the crossbow and into the air. In the split second before it landed I knew it would miss; yet I also knew that it would hit.

Just as the bolt was about to pass over the metal wolfman, it swerved in mid-air, turning at a right angle and embedding itself deep in the whirling metal. Hookwolf's angered scream seemed much too human for his monstrous form. I ducked to hide from the enraged Neo-Nazi, only keeping the top of my head over the edge to keep an I on things. I caught sight of Oni Lee just in time to see him impaled with Shadow Stalker's bolt, only for him to burst into a cloud of ash. I rolled to my feet, only catching a glimpse of a grinding masked face before the grenade in the clone's hand went off.

Time slowed to a crawl. I was going to die now. An explosion this close would rip me apart and Shadow Stalker didn't have time to make me intangible as well, if she even could. Then instinct took hold, power surging as my arms moved in a perfect sweeping block. Impossibly they _CAUGHT_ the explosion and deflected it into the roof beside me, leaving me completely unharmed and unsullied from the blast.

The battle froze, as everyone tried to comprehend what had just happened. Unfortunately for us, Oni Lee was the first to regain his composure. In short succession, three clones surrounded me, each holding a knife and attacking without delay. I swayed like a reed, catching and redirecting their attacks into each other.

The first clone died with one of his brothers knives in his throat, the next one was incapacitated by a rib breaking elbow before exploding into ash. The last simply ran out of time and burst into another cloud of obscuring carbon ash.

When I could see again, Oni Lee was gone.

Beside me Shadow Stalker began swearing up a storm at the retreat, having been distracted the same way I had to allow him time to escape.

"Why did he run?" I voiced the question aloud.

"Because you blocked that explosion. You don't fight a parahuman without knowing at least the basics of what they can do, that's common sense, and blocking an _Explosion_ like you did? Well that kinda shit usually means the cape in question can do some seriously strange powers.

How the hell you do that anyways?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea, I think my martial arts might be conceptual on some level."

"Fucking Trumps." It was quiet, but I could hear her whisper clearly. " Is it just me or is getting really hot here?"

Before I could reply, the building next to us exploded.

A mass of molten metal several meters in Diameter flew through the air impacting and stopping in the building across the road. Through the newly demolished building stepped a monster.

There was almost nothing human left about Lung; weirdly jointed legs connected to a bulk torso with a Long and serpentine neck. His face jutted forward and slitted eyes were set above a mouth that had too many teeth. Bulky arms with wicked claws and gleaming metallic scales were complemented by four enormous bat-like wings that stretched from his back, beating gently in the sweltering air.

Heat poured from his massive form in waves, each like stepping into a desert. Small flames flickered above each shoulder, Tiny pinpricks that shone so bright that I could feel my eyes begin to water just from a glance. To finish it all of above him a veritable sea of crimson fire floated, dyeing the world red.

… I had fought this thing?

The Molten sphere of metal burst, an enormous mass of spears and swords of metal pushing it apart from inside. Kaiser stepped out, Armor pristine and head held high. The illusion was broken by the fact that he was almost dragging one leg behind him and seemed to be moving with deliberate care as not to jostle to much. I guessed that he was probably badly burned under all that armor.

The Roar of a motorcycle and a burst of gunfire stitching across Lung's armored form announced the arrival of Miss Militia and Armsmaster. Behind them I could see the rest of the Protectorate from Brockton Bay; Velocity, Dauntless, Triumph, Assault, and Battery. For a second I relaxed, they should be able to stop him. Or at the very least keep him occupied.

Lung ignored them, focusing on Kaiser instead. He launched himself forward at breakneck speeds, cracking the concrete with every step, fire swirling around him. Walls of blades, burst from scattered debris to hinder him but they became slag before they could even touch him. It was almost sad, Kaiser could do nothing but retreat and continually throw metal obstructions and attacks that melted before they could come close. At the same time, that molten metal stopped most of the protectorate from closing in and instead forced them to support him from afar, to little effect.

Then the wind changed, a slight breeze cooled me from behind. Lung froze; his neck twisted like a snake and he turned it towards me.

No No NO!

His roar shook the earth, and in an instant the battle changed. the two white sparks at his shoulder erupted into bright beams of what I assumed to be compressed fire. One cut through several iron walls and Kaisers armor in an instant, vaporizing an arm and a leg before cutting off. The other strafed the Protectorate heroes, I saw Triumph and Velocity go down before the beam was blocked by Dauntless.

Then I was too busy to think. The sea of fire descended, covering the battlefield but a touch and twist of my power rendered it harmless to me. A blow that would rip me in half was deflected with another burst of power, and I sensed, rather than felt, the mark on my forehead burst into life.

I shifted slightly to allow Armsmaster's Halberd room to strike, and circled the draconian man to allow the other protectorate forces access. A tail I had missed whipped around, catching the pole-arm and ripping it from Armsmaster's hands. The bulky form of Lung was slowly forced back, constantly forced to defend. Then he exploded, A wave of fire and concussive force throwing the heroes off him and into the air.

Turning his attentions back to me, we fell into an almost rhythmic pattern of him attacking and me defending. It was strange, while his blows were more powerful and his fire control better I did not feel as pressured as I had been the last time we fought.

"Get back!" The voice of Miss Milita was clear over the roar of fire and din of battle.

Throwing myself backwards I was surprised to find that I flew through the air effortlessly, gently gliding backwards as if I was hanging on wires. An explosion ripped through the air, and I could see Miss Militia with a RPG launcher on her shoulder out of the corner of my eye. As soon as I moved my hands from their outstretched position I immediately fell to the ground, Tumbling to break my fall.

As soon as I was back on my feet, Lung was on me again, seemingly unharmed from the attack. Any help I might have gotten was stopped by him melting small puddles in the road and dipping his tail in the molten material, using the molten material as projectiles to keep them at bay.

I fought a desperate battle to keep myself alive and in one piece, pulling on more memories and on more power. The red Aura around swirled with Strange patterns and texts, and surprisingly brought me some relief from the pain of blocking the attacks of someone so much larger than me. The Other heroes involved tried their best to aid me, but Lung kept them at bay while he focused on me.

Then the sky fell.

Or rather, countless blazing azure beams of light descended on Lung, Blasting him away from me and out into the bay. Legend descended from above, and without pausing accelerated after the tumbling form of Lung. Behind him Alexandria and Eidolon came as well, moving in formation towards their target. Armsmaster and the active Protectorate members soon followed, only Miss Militia staying behind to speak to me for a moment.

"Are you alright?"

As the adrenaline of battle began to fade I felt bruised and battered all over. Tomorrow I would probably look more like a patchwork quilt of colors than human. But I was a Hero and Miss Militia was needed elsewhere. Gathering my remaining strength, I raised one hand in salute and waved her off.

"Go! I'll be fine. Give me a moment to catch my breath and I'll be back on top."

She looked at me dubiously, but the sound of distant roars and explosions seemed to convince her.

"Get back to the PRT headquarters and stay there. Lung seemed to be targeting you and you are exhausted, no need to tempt fate."

Something inside me laughed at that.

"Yes, Will do."

As soon as she was out of sight, I felt the last strength I had leave my limbs. I collapsed to the ground, limbs limp and shaking from exhaustion.

As I lay on the ground exhausted, I saw the silent appearance of a man. He emerged from the air itself with no warning rippling into existence like he had just stepped out from behind an invisible curtain; he looked like he had been skinned, grey muscles exposed and shifting with every movement. The last thing I saw before the uncomfortably familiar darkness of unconsciousness claimed me was was the flames around me reflected in the unknown man's crimson visor.

End Identity

Interlude: Lung

Lung began to suspect something was wrong when during his explanation of the plan to attack the Protectorate headquarters to rescue Sensei. One of the mid level bosses voiced a question that surprised him.

"Why do we have to do something this big and crazy for someone we don't even know?"

With a growl Lung walked over to the now cowering underling and grabbed his arm. A sickening crack sounded through the room as the limb snapped under his grip. Small slitted eyes glared out of Lung's metal mask daring anyone else to question him and his voice had turned gravelly.

"**I **may **only **have met **her **for **a **short **time **but **she **helpe**d me **escape **from **the **Protectorate, **now**we **will **rescue **her **in **return. "

The rest of the gang leaders present exchanged glances but remained silent as he continued.

Afterwards, he was approached by Oni Lee. His masked underling was silent as they walked over and took a seat in a corner for privacy. For a short while both were silent as the they studied each other before Oni Lee spoke in a raspy voice.

"Tell me more about this... woman."

"You as well? Sensei helped me escape and sparred with me. She's taught me so much, I owe her."

The masked lieutenant tilted his head slightly. "You already said that. What is she like? What have you done together other than that one time?

Lung thought back, but the memories seemed sluggish and flat. "She helped me escape from..."  
Lung shook his head, this wasn't right. Anger rising, he rose and walked past the silent Oni Lee. "**Take** control **until **I **get **back.**I** need **to **figure **this **out."

"As you will."

When Lung returned a few days later, Oni Lee was there to meet him. Armored scale covered his body and slitted eyes peered out from a slightly distorted face. Eyes burned with hatred and flickering flames danced across his body. His voice was deep s he spoke to his second in command.

**"Gather the men. We crush The Empire first and then go after the Protectorate."**

They will call in the Triumvirate if we do this, you know that." The demon-masked man cautioned.

Lung's face split in a vicious grin that was too wide and contained too many teeth to be completely human.**"Let them come. The more they fight the stronger I will be."**

"What about your "sensei"?" The temperature in the room spiked, and easily flammable objects burst into flame.

**"We burn her to ASH!"**

**"Kaiser! Come out and play before I break all your little toys!"** the words were punctuated with a jet of flames that ignited the warehouse Lung was standing in front of. Ignoring the screams and shouts for help coming from inside, he cocked his head and listened. Enhanced senses easily picking up the scent and breaths of a small group of people watching from a rooftop nearby.

Just as he was about to launch an attack against them, a new presence dropped in among them and they began to move towards Lung and the assembled members of the ABB. As the crowned figure of Kaiser came into view Lung's face split apart into an inhuman grin as a muzzle and wings pushed themselves out of his scaly flesh.

Behind Kaiser came what looked to be most of the Empires parahumans. They spread into a thin line facing the solid mass of the ABB. Kaisers voice rang out, Cruel and condescending.

"I always knew you were a beast Lung, but have you gone insane as well? These attacks mean war!"

Lung's neck stretched further than any mans as he threw it back and laughed, a grating inhuman noise. His eyes focused on Kaiser and growled, his distorted voice impossible to understand.

A longsword emerged from Kaisers hand, and a gesture with one hand prepared the Empire's parahumans to attack.

"You cannot even speak anymore. It seems that I will have to put you down like the mad dog you are."

Lungs reply came in the form of a roar that shook the windows of the surrounding buildings. With the flick of a newly grown tail, he launched himself at the self-styled king. In the moments before impact, his two bodyguards Fenja and Menja collapsed from knives entering their backs courtesy of twin clones of Oni Lee.

A metal wall intercepted the draconian bulk, but that soon melted like hot wax and faltered. The night lit up as flames began to pour from Lung's form. Beating his four wings, he lowered his head and charged the metal constructs blocking his way to Kaiser. A blasts of fire softened them enough so his bulk could smash through, an unstoppable force.

Kaiser seemed unconcerned, small gestures directed a dozen spears the size of a mans arm to spring from the remains in an attempt to impale Lung. They broke on his armored hide, shattering and melting from the heat and tough scales. Just as He got within striking range, Kaiser's armor exploded outward into a jagged-edged uneven sphere of interlocking spears and swords. A blast of fire melted the outer layers, but Kaiser was untouched deeper inside.

This would take some time, but until the Protectorate arrived, Kaiser would do as a warmup.


End file.
